I have everything I need to teach early childhood through eighth grade and ESL in the Texas government schools but need my probationary year as the teacher of record before I can take the final pedagogy and professional responsibilities exam. The job market is insanely tight as schools across the country are laying off teachers left and right.

I also have a bachelor of science degree, a 250-hour TESL certificate with 20-hour teaching practicum from Coventry House International/ONTESOL in Toronto along with a Standard 2 (Interim) certificate from TESL Canada.

My Spanish is upper beginner to low intermediate (hence my interest in Latin America; I want to improve my Spanish by being immersed in it).

So, with that little bit, what are my chances of landing a job in an elementary or middle school (public or private) in Latin America? I'm fairly certain the IBO and other international schools are out of the question.

You need to get certified. Some schools hire non-certified teachers but you will always take a pay cut and will be the first let go. My school would not hire you, but tier 2 schools might. Still though you will be better off working that year and taking the tests. There are jobs available in Texas. I know people there. But you will have to take a job you don't want, like in a border town or out in the desert or in an inner city school. Just do it and get it over with. Life as a non-certified international teacher would suck.

I got hired by an intl school with NO BEd, but I had 3 "teaching licenses" they weren't full ones, since I had never tuaght in schools, but had I wanted to (and I still could) get a job teaching at a PS in NJ. Laws have changed since then and peopel can't easily get the certs I did.

Basically, some places will hire you, intl schools I mean, and others won't. As peopel have said, it's usually the second tier schools. Or schools in not so popular countries.

Your 250 hour cert sounds good, I take it there was a practical teaching component?

You don't need Spanish to teach here and unfortunately, teaching English isn't the best way to learn Spanish

I think your chances are pretty good. Start contacting places and head to an intl school job recruiting fair.

IBO schools aren't out. If I can teach at one of them, so can you! I wouldn't go to PS in LA though. Hit the private ones.

Latin America - Foreign English teachers in these regions typically earn a wage that allows them to live comfortably in an apartment, purchase groceries, dine out, commute by public transportation and have some extra money to travel and pursue other interests. In both regions, private lessons are in high demand and provide excellent opportunities for teachers to earn additional income.

This is taken from The International TEFL Academy's "International Job Search Guidance Manual." It's assuming 20-25 hours per week of paid work.

Those of you who are in the know, how closely does this resemble the truth?

Generally I would say yes, but the question relates to an area which is just so vast and varied it is hard to give a definitive answer in a few words; the teacher working in rural Bolivia would probably give a very different answer to the private tutor working with business executives in Sao Paulo.

One thing I have noticed though is that quite a few teachers go to the region expecting to live like a king by virtue of being a foreigner and nothing else. I’ve met a number of ‘teachers’ who complain that they can’t save any money, yet when I’ve probed a little deeper it turns out that they eat out three times a day, go out most nights, employ cleaners, go away a couple of weekends a month, and generally spend their money as quickly as it comes in. It amazes me how they scratch their heads and wonder why they’re broke. I find that, for whatever reason, a lot of people come with unrealistic expectations, and get miffed when these are not met.

Latin America - Foreign English teachers in these regions typically earn a wage that allows them to live comfortably in an apartment, purchase groceries, dine out, commute by public transportation and have some extra money to travel and pursue other interests. In both regions, private lessons are in high demand and provide excellent opportunities for teachers to earn additional income.

This is taken from The International TEFL Academy's "International Job Search Guidance Manual." It's assuming 20-25 hours per week of paid work.

Those of you who are in the know, how closely does this resemble the truth?

Yes, but keep in mind, in Peru for example, when I was there, the average salary for 55 hours of work, 6 days a week was $180. So yes, you CAN live well compared to there. There beign a third world country.

High demand, yes, maybe for private teachers, but there is also stiff competition for the good jobs.

You need to get certified. Some schools hire non-certified teachers but you will always take a pay cut and will be the first let go. My school would not hire you, but tier 2 schools might. Still though you will be better off working that year and taking the tests. There are jobs available in Texas. I know people there. But you will have to take a job you don't want, like in a border town or out in the desert or in an inner city school. Just do it and get it over with. Life as a non-certified international teacher would suck.

Technically, I am "certified" (and, for the purposes of NCLB "highly qualified"); I just can't take the PPR exam until I've had a year in a classroom as the teacher of record. I've been trying to get hired by schools for at least a year. Jobs are being scooped up by teachers who have been laid off from other districts. I've been looking primarily in West Texas but am also interested in the San Antonio area and wouldn't mind getting into an inner city school (I was a kid on Welfare who ran the streets unsupervised, so I do have a little understanding of the socioeconomic environment). I've been told I can forget about getting hired in Laredo because I'm not the right skin color/ethnicity.

I got hired by an intl school with NO BEd, but I had 3 "teaching licenses" they weren't full ones, since I had never tuaght in schools, but had I wanted to (and I still could) get a job teaching at a PS in NJ. Laws have changed since then and peopel can't easily get the certs I did.

Basically, some places will hire you, intl schools I mean, and others won't. As peopel have said, it's usually the second tier schools. Or schools in not so popular countries.

I'm not necessarily looking to go to the popular places (Mexico would be nice, but I'm not necessarily interested in the tourist resorts or D.F.).

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Your 250 hour cert sounds good, I take it there was a practical teaching component?

a 20-hour teaching practicum.

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You don't need Spanish to teach here and unfortunately, teaching English isn't the best way to learn Spanish

But living in a Spanish-speaking country and interacting with locals as part of day-to-day life is helpful.

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I think your chances are pretty good. Start contacting places and head to an intl school job recruiting fair.

Noted.

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IBO schools aren't out. If I can teach at one of them, so can you! I wouldn't go to PS in LA though. Hit the private ones.

Pay is usually crap. And you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get a job. In Mexico, at least, you now have to have a degree or diploma that is recognized by the SEP (Mexican Education Secretary). While the outstanding benefits package can make it worthwhile for people who are staying in a place long term, if you´re not, it´s not worth it.

In Mexico you also must join the union and participate in union activities, which I believe would generally be in conflict with Mexico's prohibition of foreigners taking part in political actities.

And that's not even going into class sizes, classroom conditions, lack of materials, unrealistic syllabi, etc. We run a training course for high school teachers every July, and most of them teach groups of 30 to 50 students in one classroom that meet twice a week for 45 minutes. And they teach 10 of such groups meaning that in any given semester you have 300 to 500 students--a little light grading anyone?

And that's not even going into class sizes, classroom conditions, lack of materials, unrealistic syllabi, etc. We run a training course for high school teachers every July, and most of them teach groups of 30 to 50 students in one classroom that meet twice a week for 45 minutes. And they teach 10 of such groups meaning that in any given semester you have 300 to 500 students--a little light grading anyone?

Add that to the fact that you don´t always even work at the same school for all of those hours. I know two SEP teachers, one is split between two schools and the other before FOUR. Ick. But, one of them is young, and the benefits will eventually pay off for him. The other is on a ¨mission¨ to reform schools´ English programs from inside. So far, she is not having a lot of luck.

I do also know one person who is an Inmigrado that works in a SEP school, but I don´t think she does anything more than man the coffee pot at meetings and marches, so maybe there is a way to participate without being political.

I have everything I need to teach early childhood through eighth grade and ESL in the Texas government schools but need my probationary year as the teacher of record before I can take the final pedagogy and professional responsibilities exam. The job market is insanely tight as schools across the country are laying off teachers left and right.

I also have a bachelor of science degree, a 250-hour TESL certificate with 20-hour teaching practicum from Coventry House International/ONTESOL in Toronto along with a Standard 2 (Interim) certificate from TESL Canada.

My Spanish is upper beginner to low intermediate (hence my interest in Latin America; I want to improve my Spanish by being immersed in it).

So, with that little bit, what are my chances of landing a job in an elementary or middle school (public or private) in Latin America? I'm fairly certain the IBO and other international schools are out of the question.

You could prob land a job in one of the better private colegios in Mexico DF. Don´t sell yourself short, pay is bad to begin with in Mexico, aim high and then see if you get shot down or make it.